The Social Determinants of Mental Health

Ninety percent of the determinants of our health derive from our lifetime social and physical environment—not from the provision of health care. The author describes behaviors, such as poor eating, excessive drinking and abuse of drugs, smoking, and physical inactivity, and social factors, such as adverse childhood experiences, poor education, food insecurity, poor housing quality, unemployment, and discrimination, that contribute to ill health and early demise. Better health and mental health can be achieved by understanding and responding to these determinants of health.